


Sweater Weather

by Gayasawindow



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-08
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-02-28 15:29:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2737766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gayasawindow/pseuds/Gayasawindow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An alternate version of Laura's holiday break. She's home with her dad for Christmas, Carmilla had promised to visit her but hasn't shown up yet. Mostly fluffy christmas-y and New Years Hollstein</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Song Laura listens to is Sweater Weather by The Neighbourhood.

"I could make you some hot chocolate..."

Laura only half halts her rush to get up to her bedroom in order to respond to her dad. The hope in his face almost breaks her, but she knows what is upstairs waiting. She feels selfish, but she'll have all day with her dad tomorrow.

She decideds to stop fully to answer him, she can at least give him that much, "I'm pretty tired, long day you know? I'm gonna go right to bed."

He nods sadly, but he understands, "Okay, well goodnight sweetheart."

As soon he turns away she practically sprints for the stairs and calls out over her shoulder, "Goodnight Dad!"

There's a clear picture in her head of Carmilla lounging in her bed, waiting for her, finally. The image makes her head spin and her feet can't seem to move fast enough as she takes the stairs by two.

_She has to be here...she has to be here._

Laura busts through her bedroom door and bruises her hand on the lightswitch when she swings blindly at it. Her eyes dart around the room looking for her girlfriend, but the huge smile slowly fades from her face when she finds exactly zero vampires waiting for her.

"Carmilla...?"

Laura's voice is soft, hurt, an injured puppy. The hope glows brightly for just another second, waiting for a black cat to sneak out from hiding, but then the sun sets, leaving her mind matching the moonless night outside. It's Christmas Eve, and nearly a week since she went home for the holidays. Laura has been expecting Carmilla to show up every day, but she was positive it would be today, of all days. Wrong again. Apparently she'll be spending Christmas alone.

Laura hardly wanted to go home for the holidays. To escape the aftershocks on campus she much rather would have run away with Carmilla and spent time discovering their new relationship, but that wasn't an option. Her dad would be heartbroken if she didn't spend this time at home. So she gave Carmilla her address, told her exactly which window on the house is hers, and Carmilla had promised she'd come as soon as she could and sealed it with a hundred kisses.

Laura shuts the door behind her and sheds her jacket before leaning back against the wood. She shakes her head vehemently, ridding the creeping thoughts that Carmilla is half-dead in a ditch somewhere, or that she had been lying. But no one risks their life for you without basically being in love, right?

The vibration from her phone in the back pocket of her jeans is audible in the silence. For a while she had expected every text or call she received to be Carmilla from a strange number, announcing that she had replaced her phone. The useless vampire dove nearly half a mile under water with her cell in her pocket, the idiot. As Laura plucks her own phone from its resting place, she has no hope that it will be Carmilla.

Turns out to be a text from LaFontaine. Her fingers dully make all the right swipes and taps to expose the words.

_Has she shown up?_

Laura taps out a no and sends it off. She nearly puts it back in her pocket, but knows they deserve more of a conversation than that. Just because she's sad doesn't mean she's allowed to be a poor friend. As she's typing out a further response LaFontaine sends an amusing string of Emojis, succeeding in making Laura smile, something she was sure there would be none of after finding a decidedly empty bed.

_Have you talked to Perry? She misses you._

Laura does put the phone back this time and pushes her friend's strained relationship temporarily out of her mind. She sighs heavily as she crosses the room to the window. Her eyes graze over the backyard, squinting into leafless branches, knowing Carmilla wouldn't be waiting around on the ground when she can show off and be perched 15 meters up a tree. But of course there's nothing. Even though her father would reprimand her for it, Laura's kept her window unlocked every second since she's been home. She can hear her father's voice in her head... _just because you're on the second floor doesn't mean you're safe , they could have ladders, Laura!_

Laura rolls her eyes and then rubs her face with her hands. She wasn't lying to her father when she said it'd been a long day. When she got home days ago she had to stretch the few weeks of normal college life she experienced with Betty into an entire semester of stories. It was hard enough to do with her dad, but she had to do it all over again to her entire extended family at the annual Hollis Christmas Eve gathering today. Multiple times. It was stressful just trying to keep her stories straight, let alone thinking about what actually happened. It didn't feel right to pretend the pod-peopled Betty was the real Betty, but Laura knew it was necessary. And it was necessary to lie, since she didn't want anyone to worry about her.

It was rough being thrown back into regular life and pretending her whole view of the world hadn't just been turned upside down and kicked in the balls. She would kill for any of her new friends to be around so she can drop this front and talk about things that actually matter. She feels painfully out of the loop.

The hard floor creaks as she crosses the room again and flops down on her bed, pulling the blanket up over her seated form. She jumps when her phone vibrates, she wasn't expecting a response from LaFontaine anytime soon. Usually when Laura mentions the Perry Problem she's met with at least an hour of radio silence as punishment. As she contorts her body to retrieve the phone, her mind can't help but sprint to the idea of a text from Carmilla, anything that would indicate her love isn't suddenly unrequited. But once again her hopes are shut down.

When Laura spots her headphones on her bedside table she eagerly plugs them into her phone to shut out the world. She doesn't bother removing any clothing before snuggling under the covers and starts shuffling through songs. Her first instinct is to find something to take her mind off Carmilla, but she knows that will be impossible.

When an all too familiar drum beat starts she hums in contentment, drops the phone onto her stomach and starts singing the words quietly into the empty room. The song is sexy, and has always made her think of Carmilla, even before she admitted to herself she wanted to sleep with her.

_"...Touch my neck, and I'll touch yours, you in those little high-waisted shorts..."_

The music is interrupted for only a second to spout a text alert, but it plays on as her fingers fly over the letters to answer LaFontaine's surprisingly not-so-angry responses.

_"Cause it's too cooold for you here, so let me hooold both your hands in the holes of my sweater..."_

Laura considers asking them about JP...but what the hell is she supposed to say? It's not like he's up to much. She puts her phone back to her stomach as she considers how much fun one can even have communicating with a flashdrive.

_"The goose bumps start to raise, the minute that my left hand meets your waist..."_

Laura shivers, pulls the blanket tighter around herself and groans inbetween lyrics when her mind drifts back to Carmilla after the minute-long break thinking about JP granted her. _Where the hell could that girl be?_ Laura feels like crying into her pillow, but she knows the tears won't come.

_"No shirt, no blouse. Just us you find out, nothing that I wouldn't wanna tell you about..."_

After a week spent crying over a dead Carmilla, it would be hard to bring tears to her face over the girl again. As long as she's alive, there's really no reason to be sad. Just the fact that she's breathing...but not needing to breath and breathing anyway, whatever...will be enough to keep the tears away. Nothing will ever come close to that feeling.

Rather than being upset she's just stuck here thinking about that stupid, sexy vampire. But _h_ _er_  stupid, sexy vampire. Laura won't get much sleep tonight, she knows it, just like it's been every night since she's been home. It'll be more of a problem tonight than the others though, since she knows her dad will want her up relatively early to celebrate Christmas with him.

_"Cause it's too colllldddddd"_

The volume of Laura's voice surprises her, she hadn't realized how loud she had gotten. She pops the ear plugs out to listen for her dad, calling up to her to ask what she's yelling about. But when she hears no questions or approaching footsteps and starts to replace the headphones, another shiver overtakes her. She lifts her head to find the source of the sudden chill in the room, and when her eyes fall on the figure sitting in the windowsill she shoots straight up in bed.

Her heart stops. The only thing left moving in the room is Carmilla's leg swinging in time to the music still blaring through the tiny speakers, laying abandoned on the bed.

"Hey Cupcake. Thinkin' about me?" Carmilla is perched perfectly in her open window frame like it was measured just for her, "You're cute when you sing." Carmilla's face is half-covered by a shadow due to the hood of her zipped sweatshirt drawn up over her head. Laura's eyes look her up and down, finding black skinny jeans leading to black boots, one stuck up in the windowsill, the other still swinging freely. Laura isn't used to her looking so casual, it makes her wonder if she has fallen asleep and this is only a dream.

Carmilla turns to face her fully, putting both boots on the ground as she speaks through her smirk.

"You realize that song doesn't really fit for us. I don't get cold, remember? The hoodie is just for show." Laura finally stands up from her bed, smiles, "I'm down for taking our shirts off though."

 _"Where have you been?!"_ Laura's tone is more biting than she intended, and she is fully aware that she is an English accent away from sounding exactly like Molly Weasley. Despite being annoyed that Carmilla hasn't made the slightest attempt to contact her in days, Laura can't deny she's excited to see her, so she makes a point to change her tone.

Carmilla stands, removes her hood. Laura feels like her feet are stuck to the ground, so she keeps talking.

"Why haven't you gotten a new phone yet?"

Carmilla smiles fully at Laura's expression, battling between nerves, happiness, and a tint of frustration. She hears her pulse hammering away in her neck, slightly elevated. Carmilla has trouble controlling her speed when moving across the room, but she manages to get Laura encircled in her arms without bowling her over. Laura's heartbeat spikes even more from the sudden embrace, and goes out of control when Carmilla captures her lips.

Laura's arms wrap around Carmilla's neck as her lips move against the ones she's missed for exactly 5 days and 14 hours. Carmilla's tongue starts fires in Laura's body and puts them out in her mind all at the same time. Her hands tell Laura a story of how much she missed her, they try to touch every inch of her. They settle only for a second in her back pockets, roam up under her shirt to feel the skin of her lower back, fly to her neck, and her fingers finally hook onto the waistband of jeans to pull her close. Laura relaxes for what feels like the first time in ages, knowing her fears were not only unwarranted, but completely stupid, and knowing that Carmilla will have perfect answers for her questions, but she's still aching to hear them.

Laura can't stop kissing her though, not quite yet. She savors the lips that she's missed for 134 hours. Carmilla's hand finds the back of Laura's thigh and pulls her leg up, Laura can feel herself being tilted backwards towards the bed. The floor feels distant, she isn't even sure if her remaining foot on the ground is doing anything or if she's being completely supported by Carmilla. Her arms tighten around Carmilla's neck so she doesn't fall when she pulls away from those beautiful lips.

"My dad's awake." Carmilla's face hardens, but she was expecting this. She could hear Laura's father moving around downstairs from outside. She lets out a noise, practically a growl, as she straightens up, pulling Laura with her, releasing her leg and letting her stand up straight. "What took you so long?" Laura kisses her again, chastely though, once, twice, three times.

"We do have a mysterious ancient evil to defeat still, you know. I was looking for answers. A new phone takes a backseat to heroic vampire shit."

"I missed you." Laura's voice isn't even a whisper. Her hand finds Carmilla's cheek, who melts into the touch, nods silently.

"I wanted to be here sooner, I'm sorry." Her eyes flash to the clock on the wall, "I busted ass to get here by Christmas, looks like I just made it."

Laura realizes how cold not only Carmilla's skin is, but her clothes as well, like she's been outside for days on end. She studies the girl's face.

"You haven't fed, have you? Please tell me you didn't skip that to get here on time?" Carmilla shakes her head, tries to brush off Laura's concern, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She could smell Laura's blood though, and she knows it'll be rough being around her all night, especially now that Laura's aroused, the smell is even stronger, "Don't worry."

Laura can tell she's hungry, there is something different about her eyes when she is. But Carmilla doesn't want Laura to feel pressured to be her dinner, they haven't done that yet, at least not willingly, and Carmilla doesn't want to scare her.

"I couldn't miss our first Christmas..." Laura smiles. The surly attitude attracted Laura to her, but when she's sweet it makes Laura melt into a puddle on the floor.

"Good..." Carmilla watches as an excitement bubbles up through Laura, making her whole body bounce, "Because I found you a present. Or maybe it's for the both of us, I don't really know." Laura slips from Carmilla's grasp, practically squees as she slides across the floor to her record player. "I found these in the attic. They're my grandparents old vinyls, I remember my dad used to play them for me when I was a kid. You won't believe the spiders I had to defeat to get to these babies," Laura shivers in disgust, "But I think you might like them."

"Runs head first into a nest of vampires but scared of spiders..."

Laura ignores her, finally drops a record on, and places the needle in the right spot.

She turns as the old classical music starts to creak from the speaker, "It's perfect waltzing music." Laura giggles, bites her lip, embarassed that she's been dying to dance with Carmilla since that one night in the dorm.

Carmilla cocks an eyebrow, "With Daddy Hollis downstairs? You're practically begging to be seduced."

"I'm still not convinced it can lead to seduction." It's a lie, Carmilla probably knows it. Laura can't deny that she wanted to jump her bones that night.

Carmilla stalks towards her, "I love a challenge."

Before she takes Laura's waist, she removes her hoodie and tosses it back to the bed, revealing a familiar top and making her look more like her usual self. Carmilla grabs her hand and spins her quickly before pulling her into position.

Laura giggles again, "I have no idea what I'm doing."

"Just follow..." Carmilla moves slowly at first, and after a few minutes of almost silent leading, Laura starts to get it, but not quite enough to not have to watch her feet. It's not until they speed up to the proper beat of the music and Laura feels her body pressed closer to Carmilla's that she looks up. She's surprised at the look in Carmilla's face, studying her own. The passion in her eyes makes Laura want to kiss her, she finds herself breathless. Carmilla's movements are flawless, every movement planned, perfect, charged with lust.

Carmilla subtly dips Laura, and when she brings her back up she pulls Laura in tight, stops dancing, brings a hand up to her face and looks into her eyes until Laura closes them and leans in to kiss her. But before she can, Carmilla speaks a centimeter away from her lips.

"Told you."

Laura is pulled out of the trance by her words and laughs at her loss. Carmilla lazily resumes the dance with a cocky smile on her face, dragging Laura around.

"You win. I think you're the only person on the planet that can make waltzing sexy."

"There are plenty of people who can. You're just used to the terrible excuse for dancing your generation has gotten into." Carmilla's fact twists into disgust, "It's sickening."

"Wow you sound like every parent and grandparent ever." Carmilla rolls her eyes, Laura's cheeks hurt from smiling, "So I shouldn't take you to a club and try to grind on you?"

Carmilla smirks, "We don't need a club to grind on each other, Cutie."

Carmilla winks and moves swiftly to spin Laura, who doesn't miss a beat this time and kisses Carmilla immediately when pulled back into her body. The constant seduction eyes were too much, Laura vaguely wonders if her dad is asleep yet as her hands tangle into Carmilla's tussled hair.

As soon as the thought enters her mind Laura feels Carmilla's body go stiff, and she speaks against her lips.

"Your father is coming."

Sure enough, two seconds later the footsteps become audible to Laura's ears. She frantically pushes Carmilla away, looking around for a place to hide her.

"Shoot! Shootshootshoot!"

Carmilla laughs, knowing exactly how far away her father is and how much time they have. She takes Laura's hand and pulls her to the bed, sitting her down next to the pillows. Carmilla dashes across the room, picks a random book from the bookshelf and is back to Laura in a second, "Sit. Pretend to read. Cover us." Laura hardly has time to react to Carmilla crawling onto the bed and shifting into a cat so she can curl up perfectly into the corner behind Laura. Right when Laura piles up the blankets on and around them and opens the book to a random page, her dad opens the door after a quick knock.

He pokes his head into the room, "What's going on? Sounds like you're running around up here."

"What? I'm just reading." Laura's voice is so nervous and shaky it's as if she was caught with her pants off.

Her dad looks curiously at the record still spinning, spewing old music into the room.

"Were you...dancing?"

"No! I was...walking. Walking around...to clean. I was cleaning. I couldn't sleep."

Her dad raises his eyebrows, she knows he doesn't believe her, "Alright, well, goodnight...again." Her dad is just about to close the door but he spots the open window at the opposite end of the room, "Laura it's freezing in here, why is your window open?"

He walks to the window as Laura struggles to come up with a reason, she gives up after mumbling incoherently for a few seconds.

"That's probably why you can't sleep." Laura agrees. As his back is towards her to shut the window, the end of Carmilla's tail pops out from under the blanket and she quickly tucks it out of sight, "I'll turn the heat down if you're too hot up here."

"Yeah, yeah that'd be great. Thanks, Dad."

As soon as he's out the door Laura throws the blanket off the two of them and turns to face a curled up, purring Carmilla. The cat stands, rubs her face against Laura's cheek and then sits in front of her. It's strange having a creature the size of a lynx so close but not being scared.

Laura rubs behind an ear and Carmilla leans into it, "God, you make an unbelievably cute cat." Carmilla's purr turns into a low growl and she bares her teeth. It only makes Laura laugh harder.

"Ooohh...scary." Before Laura's eyes Carmilla reappears, crouched on all fours with a serious look on her face.

"It _is_ scary. It's not supposed to be cute."

Laura snorts out a laugh. Carmilla keeps her stern look until it's kissed away. Laura's fists grab at the grump's shirt and pull until she scoots out of the corner and lays down with her. When Carmilla nibbles at Laura's lower lip, she wants to wrap her leg around her waist, but she restrains. She has to keep this relatively light so they don't approach the point of no return. At least for now.  

Laura pulls away, "You'll stay with me tonight, right?"

Carmilla nods, or rather rubs her face against the soft, yellow material under her head.

"It'll take more than a lingering father to get rid of me, Cupcake."

Laura smiles, "So you'll be here when I wake up?" Carmilla nods again.

They both silently will themselves to stay in the moment, to enjoy this time and not think about what lies ahead. But Laura thinks about demons and sacrifices and danger. Carmilla thinks about Laura in the future as an old woman and seeing her name on a stone. Or worse, in the not so distant future, dead before ever getting a chance to really live. Just like everyone she's ever known.

"Maybe we should." Carmilla re-focuses her eyes from the future and looks at Laura for elaboration, "Let's just go...run away."

Carmilla brushes the hair from Laura's face. She doesn't need to respond, the answer is in her expression. They both know they can't run from this, it's not right. Laura nods.

"Will you take me somewhere? Before we have to go back?"

Carmilla's eyes brighten, "Anywhere." There's a noise downstairs, Carmilla rolls her eyes, "Anywhere private. I never get you all to myself."

"At least for a day or two. Maybe spend New Years somewhere exotic."

"I have a place we could go."

Laura laughs, "Is it your super secret vampire cavern?"

Carmilla smirks, "Not quite. But it's home. Kind of."

"I'd love to see it." Laura yawns through the words, Carmilla does the same, causing Laura to quirk an eyebrow, "You're tired? But it's so late."

"I haven't slept in days."

Carmilla almost laughs at the speed with which Laura's face floods with worry, "You haven't eaten or slept? Carm! How have you lived this long if this is how you take care of yourself??"

"Because I'm not a damn fern. I require very little sustenance."

Now it's Laura's turn to roll her eyes. Her next words are out of her mouth before she's even sure she wants to say them.

"Well you can...you know." Carmilla stares, waits for clarification, "You know. Drink...drink my blood. If you want."

Carmilla isn't convinced, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I think."

"So convincing, how could I resist?"

Laura smiles and tries to be nonchalant about it, but Carmilla can still see the doubt in her eyes, "You don't have to let me. Besides we can't do it now, you shouldn't lose blood right before you sleep."

"Oh...okay." Laura isn't sure if she's relieved or disappointed. She yawns again, takes Carmilla by the waist to pull her close. With her face snug near Carmilla's neck and her hand creeping under the fabric of her shirt, she wishes they were somewhere else.

Laura kisses Carmilla's shoulder, "I wonder if my dad's still awake..." Carmilla knows it's an invitation, permission to continue where they were earlier. She doesn't waste a second to tilt her head and focus her attention to the floor below, listening for signs of life.

Laura pulls away and watches Carmilla's face go sour, "Christ...he's wrapping presents for fuck's sake." Laura laughs against Carmilla's collarbone, "Aren't you a little old for shit like this?"

Laura shrugs, "Single dad...only child. It will never end."

Carmilla yawns again, "We can just sleep for now."

Laura smiles, "Not like this." She sits up, moves the blanket and works at removing Carmilla's boots. When they're safely on the floor at the end of the bed, Laura undoes the button of her pants, slowly slides them down her legs. She pauses to kiss Carmilla's stomach, but then slips out of bed before Carmilla can stop her.

Laura heads to her wardrobe, peaks over her shoulder to Carmilla, "No looking." They both smile at the joke and Carmilla stares at the bones and muscles of Laura's back as she removes her pants, her shirt, her bra. She puts on a comfier shirt and turns the light off on her way back to bed.

When Laura snuggles back in they entangle their limbs, fitting together like a puzzle, intricately but perfectly.

Laura whispers across the inches between their faces, "It's just past midnight. Merry Christmas. I'm glad you're here."

"Merry Christmas, Laura. I wouldn't be anywhere else."

Laura is fully aware that Carmilla really could be anywhere in the world right now, but she's chosen to be here in her bed. Laura knows she's in love with her, but hasn't told her yet. She doesn't know if she's not ready to say it or if she knows Carmilla isn't ready to hear it. Laura decides she'll tell her on their trip over New Years, whether she's ready to hear it or not.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took ages. It's technically only the first half of chapter 2, it was getting lengthy so I figured I would post this as I finish off the last half, hopefully will be posted later today!

Laura zips her coat up to her chin, throws up the hood and adjusts her hair to create a makeshift scarf before opening the door and stepping outside. The shivers immediately overtake her, but she forces herself to ignore them. She takes the time to admire the snow on her walk around the house. The flakes are large, falling slowly, beautifully outlined by the glow of the exterior lights on the house. She decides she'll try to brave the cold tonight and lay outside with Carmilla to watch the stars through the shifting clouds. The thought makes her smile.

But then her face falls to the garbage cans her dad asked she put at the curb. She stares at them, then at the extremely long driveway covered in an inch of snow. Her billowing breath is visible as she throws her head back and groans into the night sky. She grabs hold of the two cans and starts dragging them towards the street, issuing a horrendous scraping noise as she goes.

Laura's been floating on a cloud ever since Christmas, the smile returns to her face thinking about the last few days. Especially waking up after only a few hours of sleep that morning, she knew her dad would be asleep by then so she let her hands wander to Carmilla. The sleeping girl had groaned and grumbled at being awoken so early, but when she saw the look on Laura's face and felt a hand under her shirt, she was alert in a second. _Best. Christmas. Ever._

It's annoying to have to balance her time between Carmilla and her dad so he doesn't grow suspicious or hurt that she's not spending time with him. But it also meant an excuse to shower together since they couldn't both take one in a day. Laura was nervous about it, she'd never done that with a girl before, but Carmilla kissed her fears away as easily as she removed her clothes.

The image of Carmilla under the spray of the shower with Laura's name falling from her mouth is ripped from her mind when her grip slips from one of the cans and she stumbles. She breathes into her hands in an effort to warm them up, deeply regretting that she left her gloves in her room. She wishes Carmilla was up there as well, waiting to warm her up, but she isn't expecting her back for a while. An hour ago she jumped from her bedroom window, stating she was going to get them a car for their trip tomorrow.

Laura's head had cocked to the side in confusion, "How are you going to rent a car? It's late, everywhere will be closed."

Carmilla huffed out a loud, thoroughly amused laugh as she finished putting on her boots. She stood and turned to her girlfriend, "You are just too cute, Laura. Be back in a few hours." Laura was left blushing at the compliment but still highly confused as she watched Carmilla disappear into the darkness.

As she takes another deep breath to expel into her hands, the realization hits her like a tomato to the face.

_That stupid vampire is stealing a car._

Laura curses herself for not figuring it out earlier, for being so caught up in her Carmilla high that she forgot the girl has a habit of being a criminal. She takes hold of the cans once again and pulls them with fury to the end of the driveway, planning to get up to her room and wait to ambush Carmilla with how not okay she is with this. Laura seethes at the idea of spending the first hours of New Year's Day in a jail cell tomorrow rather than sipping champagne with her girlfriend.

At the end of the driveway she prepares to give the cans one last heave, but a noise behind her makes her spin on the spot. She finds nothing besides the glittering expanse of undisturbed snow blanketing the street and the tree roots. Laura takes off her hood to increase her vision when the noise sounds again, like snow crunching under a footstep. She squints into the trees, the branches growing more eerie the longer she stares. She wants to call out for Carmilla, but she isn't expecting her back for hours, so she keeps her mouth shut to avoid drawing anymore attention to herself. When the noise sounds a third time, Laura crouches slightly behind the cans and her hand silently slips into her pocket to grip the mace that is always nestled there.

Laura takes one last look around and prepares to bolt for her house, but a voice sounds right behind her ear.

"Hey..."

Laura shrieks, turns, and sprays blindly, stopping almost immediately after seeing the target is in fact her girlfriend.

"Shit!" Carmilla takes a step back, hands over her stinging eyes, "Laura!"

"Oh no, Carm! I'm so sorry! You scared the heck out of me!"

Carmilla takes her hands off her eyes and tries to open them, hardly succeeding.

"Shoot, I'm sorry!" Laura drops the spray and cups Carmilla's face to examine her reddening eyes.

Carmilla tries to give Laura a mean look, but it looks more pathetic than anything, "Why would you do that? You didn't think it was me?"

"I didn't think you'd sneak up on me like that!"

"Well I didn't think you'd be armed to take the trash out!"

"I'm sorry it's always in my pocket! Does it still hurt?"

Carmilla huffs, "Yes! It stings like shit!"

Laura kisses Carmilla's face repeatedly, punctuated by further apologies. She sits Carmilla down on the curb and grabs a handful of freshly fallen snow before crouching next to her. She brings the snow up to Carmilla's face and puts a hand at the back of her head to hold her steady.

"Here, let me..."

Carmilla opens her eyes to see what she's talking about but shakes her head, pushes Laura's hand away, "No, I don't need it, it's fine."

"Yes you do, come on." Carmilla groans, but lets Laura push her forehead back and put the snow against her eyes, one at a time, holding it to each one to let the snow melt into them.

"Is it any better?"

Her eyes are still red, but at this point she can open them fully, "Yes. Thank you."

"I'm so sorry..." Laura pulls at Carmilla's cheek until she's facing her so she can kiss her lips, then her forehead, but when her lips make contact with her skin, a thought pops into her head, and she pushes Carmilla away to arm's length.

"Wait...were you watching me the whole time I was lugging the trash?"

Carmilla smiles, nods.

Laura's frustration returns, "Why didn't you help me?"

Carmilla shrugs, "You looked cute. And chores build character. I'm sure your Father would agree." Her smile is unreturned by her girlfriend.

Laura releases Carmilla and turns towards the silent street, "You know you're a real jerk sometimes. Don't sneak up on me like that."

"I'm sorry..." She pulls a set of keys from her pocket and dangles them from her forefinger, "But this jerk did find us a car. It's parked down the street."

Laura remembers her previous anger and it returns with a vengeance, stacking on top of the new like a tiny, angry totem pole.

Laura rises from the curb with a hand on her hip as she talks down to Carmilla, "You _did_ steal a car, didn't you?"

Carmilla shrugs as she stands, "We're just borrowing, Cupcake. They're out of town they won't know it's gone."

Carmilla tries to step closer to Laura with a hand out to calm her down, but the tiny ball of fury takes a step back, "How do you know they won't come back while we're gone?"

"Their return flight is on the third."

"And how do you know that?"

Carmilla's shoulders fall, knowing she won't like the answer, "The calendar in their kitchen..."

Laura's mouth drops open, "You...you just broke into..ugh!!" Laura throws her hands up and storms away from Carmilla back towards the house.

Carmilla stalks after her, "How did you expect to get there? I thought you wanted to take a trip."

Laura doesn't turn around, but gestures wildly as she continues up the driveway, "Oh so because you did it for me it's supposed to be okay?"

"Well...yeah."

Laura stops and turns so Carmilla can see her facial expression, "Sacrificing yourself to save my life is being romantic, Carmilla. Committing grand theft auto and breaking and entering for me, _is not. That's just being a felon._ "

Laura storms away again but Carmilla uses her speed to cut her off, "Laura wait, listen." Laura stops, but she's not happy about it. She crosses her arms over her chest and stares at Carmilla with an eyebrow raised, "Trust me these people are filthy rich, they can afford having an extra 600 miles on their car, they won't even notice." Laura narrows her eyes, "The only ID I have right now says I'm 19, meaning neither of us can rent a car. It's our only option." Laura's expression doesn't waver, "But I'll take it back if you really want me to." She tangles a hand into Laura's hair, "Let me take us away..."

The excitement over this trip bubbles under the surface of Laura's anger. All she's wanted is to get away from everything. With nothing going on, no one to defeat and no mysteries to solve, her and Carmilla can just be.

She huffs a breath out of her nose, "Fine. But I'm gonna make you go back to that house and hide money in their pants pockets," Laura pokes a finger into Carmilla's chest for emphasis, " _Every. Week._ "

Carmilla smiles, "Deal." She takes Laura by the waist and pulls her close, "You know I love that angry face of yours."

"Flirting and sexy eyes won't get you out of this one, _Cutie_." But she makes no move to push Carmilla away.

Carmilla's smirk is in full force, "No?" Laura shakes her head, "I'll have to find another way then, huh?"

After a slow kiss Carmilla leans back to look for any effect it had. She moves the hair from Laura's neck to plant kisses below her ear until she hears Laura release a shivery breath.

She smiles, whispers into Laura's ear, "Meet me upstairs?"

Laura steps away, angry face only slightly faded, but her skin is flushed in a way that Carmilla knows isn't from the cold.

"I have dishes to finish. Ten minutes."

She storms past Carmilla, who is up in the bedroom before Laura even shuts the door to the house.

.

.

.

The next afternoon the two of them are flying towards their destination, finally alone, but Laura can't seem to relax. It's partly because Carmilla's habit of driving well over the speed limit is not dampened by the fact they're in a stolen vehicle. But Laura has other concerns, she's constantly checking her phone waiting for her dad to call and ruin everything. She told him she'll be spending a couple days at a friend's house, someone he knows and doesn't live too far away so he doesn't worry too much. But she's never been particularly good at lying to him, so she's counting down the seconds to a phone call demanding she come home immediately.

Carmilla reaches over and takes Laura's hand from her lap, tugs on it to get her attention, "This won't be much fun if you're panicking the whole time."

"I'm not panicking."

"I've heard you talk in your sleep more than you've spoken in the last 15 minutes." Laura tries to smile through her worry, "He's not gonna call." Carmilla picks up their now-entwined hands and kisses the back of Laura's, "Relax."

"Okay. Fine, okay. I'm fine." Laura finally stuffs her phone out of immediate reach, hoping the nag to check it will eventually ebb, "Where are we going anyway?"

Laura knows it'll be a three hour drive or so, but Carmilla has given little details about their actual destination.

"It's just a cabin in the woods."

"Is it yours?"

Carmilla nods, not intending to elaborate. But she feels Laura staring into her and glances at the hopeful look in her eyes, begging for more details.

"Yes, it's mine. My Mother has...or had, I guess...a lot of properties. But this is the only place I have to go that she doesn't know about, I bought it in the 50's after she found me and forced me to Silas. Needed a place to get away from her."

"Where do you get all your money?" Laura smiles at the idea of Carmilla holding down a job, "Please don't tell me you're wanted in multiple countries for bank robbing."

Carmilla scoffs, "I haven't robbed a bank since 1846." Laura laughs, but then stops when she realizes Carmilla is serious, "Too much heat, not even worth it back then. Mostly it comes from Mother."

"How'd you find it?"

Carmilla shrugs, "Wasn't hard to find. Just needed a place off the map."

Laura's eyes narrow, her voice drips with accusation, "So you just happened upon a random cabin to buy?"

Carmilla sighs, she knows she's found out, "It may have belonged to some _very_ distant relatives of mine who I had tracked down..."

Laura smiles in victory, "Says Carmilla 'Posterity-Can-Bite-Me' Karnstein..."

Carmilla rolls her eyes, "A girl gets curious after so many decades."

After Laura repeatedly asks about them, Carmilla reluctantly gives up details about her distant family. As Carmilla regales her with tales about them and stories of bank robberies, Laura hangs on every word. When their hands are not swatting the other's away from the buttons on the radio, they're entwined over the center console. As they drive Laura can't seem to take her eyes off Carmilla, her phone and father completely forgotten. She takes note of what makes her smile, giggles at her getting pissed at other drivers, frowns when she's forced to put on sunglasses to block the albedo from the fallen snow. Laura misses those eyes after only a few minutes. Over and over again Laura confesses her love for the girl in her mind, maybe thinking it enough times will make the actual words seem less daunting.

It's not until Laura feels the car slowing down that her attention is pulled back to the road, she sits up straight, looking around frantically to see if they're nearly there.

"Chill out, Sparky." Her finger taps the fuel gauge, indicating a nearly empty tank, "I assume you're dying for snacks anyway."

Laura claps in excitement before digging for her wallet. After Carmilla stops the car she removes her sunglasses to attempt to rub the sleepiness from her eyes. She's been doing her best to adjust her sleeping schedule to match Laura's, but it's been difficult. It's usually around this time of day Laura finds her nodding off.

"You'll have to drive the rest of the way. This damn sunlight is putting me to sleep."

Laura notices her frazzled state, that hungry look in her eyes, and knows what she needs.

"Do you need blood?"

Carmilla closes her eyes, leans her head back against the seat, "What I need is for you to stop asking me if I need blood."

"Well I know you must be thinking about it."

"You're the only one who's bringing it up, Cupcake."

Laura knows she snuck out the day after Christmas to get blood somewhere, but that was days ago. She also knows for sure that she wants this to happen. Not only because it's better than Carmilla terrorizing her small town feeding on strangers, but because Laura wants her girlfriend to know she trusts her with everything, including her life. Carmilla's made it clear she'll do anything for Laura, Laura wants her to know that it's mutual.

"Wouldn't you rather it be me than some stranger?"

Carmilla's eyes are still closed but her expression goes sour, her tone biting, "It doesn't matter." The vampire couldn't care less about striking up fear in a stranger, but Laura matters.

Laura laughs at the sudden grumpiness, "Don't get hangry on me..."

She reaches out and waves her wrist under Carmilla's nose, somehow assuming making light of the situation will convince her that she's serious.

Carmilla peaks at the proffered wrist, opening her eyes fully when she figures Laura's intent, "Your wrist? Could we get anymore G-rated?"

Laura drops her arm, "I can't exactly go back to my dad with a bite on my neck, Carm. ' _Oh it's nothing Dad, I just got attacked by a bobcat at my friend's house, no need to worry.'_ " Carmilla rolls her eyes, "I can cover my arms, I refuse to wear turtlenecks for the next week. I don't think I even own any turtlenecks."

Carmilla thinks of all the places on Laura's body she'd rather do it from. If Laura's willing to joke about it, Carmilla decides to test the waters herself.

"We can't do it here. Tonight...maybe. If you're thinking about it, get yourself some orange juice while you're in there. We'll start with the wrist but we're working up to the femoral."

As Laura digs through her recent memory of Intro Biology, Carmilla exits the car and starts walking towards the passenger side. Halfway there, Carmilla hears Laura's gasp in understanding and a smirk plays at the vampire's lips. By the time she opens Laura's car door her face has gone from adorably curious to adorably flustered. Carmilla leans over the top of the open door as Laura stands.

"Is that...?"

Carmilla nods slowly, "Sometimes I can hardly go down on you. All that blood rushing by...makes my head spin."

Judging from Laura's expression and her slightly open mouth, Carmilla doesn't expect a response. She smiles through her own nerves, hoping Laura is too distracted by the thought of sex to see in her face the real reason she's hesitant to drink from Laura. Carmilla steps around the door and puts a finger under Laura's chin to close her mouth. She kisses her then, but only for a second.

"Get some food, Creampuff."

Laura snaps out of her trance, "Right, food. I'll umm...I'll be back."

She only makes it a few steps before Carmilla calls her name, causing her to spin on her heel, "Orange _juice_ Laura, not orange _soda_."

" _I know..._ " Laura turns away and Carmilla hears her add, "Totally getting both..." under her breath.

Carmilla smiles, but it doesn't last. She leans against the car and tries to distract herself from the topic. All she can picture is Laura's face after she bit her the first time. Before she did it Carmilla knew Laura wouldn't be happy, but she needed every advantage if she was going to catch Will. The hurt, anger, and fear in Laura's face was heartbreaking.

For over a century Carmilla has had Ell's words echoing in her mind, calling her a monster. It was all she could hear after Laura looked at her like that. Even though it's consensual this time, she's afraid she'll change her mind, give her that look again before storming off and driving away. Leaving Carmilla alone in the cabin with another image to haunt her for eternity.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHRISTMAS SPECIAL TOMORROW AHHHHHHHH


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The conclusion!

"Turn here."

Laura stops the car and stares into the thick trees, shading her eyes from the setting sun, "Turn where?" Carmilla points, "What the Helga Hufflepuff are you pointing at?"

"Right there!"

"You call that a road?"

"Yes."

Laura sees a small opening between the trees, but she would call it more of a hardly-traveled path than a road.

"Are you joking? We will most certainly not fit through there, we'll get stuck!"

"Just trust me."

Laura undoes her seatbelt, "I refuse to take part in the destruction of this vehicle." She pushes at Carmilla's arm, "Get out, you're driving." With minimal griping Carmilla exits and Laura climbs into the passenger seat to avoid going out into the cold.

Forty minutes later Carmilla puts the car in park in front of a small, unimpressive cabin and throws a victorious smirk at Laura, "I told you it was road."

Carmilla reaches into the backseat, pulls up their three bags and puts them one by one on Laura's lap.

Laura rolls her eyes, “When you have to push us out of three different holes and move a small fallen tree out of the way, it doesn’t really count."

Carmilla exits and in half a second is opening Laura's car door and swinging two of the bags over her shoulders, "We still made it, didn't we?"

Carmilla extends a hand to pull Laura out of the car. The cold immediately bites through her clothes and she hurries to the door behind her girlfriend, completely forgetting to formulate a snappy comeback.

Laura rushes Carmilla as she unlocks the door, "It'll be cold in there, but it's small, it warms up quick."

They step into nearly pitch blackness, the little sunlight peaking around the closed curtains hardly permeates the room. Laura jumps when a fire erupts to her left, bathing the room in light, but immediately relaxes when she discovers it's contained in a fireplace. She takes a hesitant step forward when her eyes adjust to the orange glow. Carmilla may have purchased this place in the 50's, but it's apparent that it was built long before that. She feels like she stepped into the 19th century and if she moves too quickly, the facade will crumble and she'll be thrown back into the waning hours of 2014.

Laura's shivering interrupts her inspection so Carmilla ushers her to the sofa, "Sit down, warm up."

She removes one of the blankets they packed and carefully unwraps the two glasses and bottle of champagne hidden within its folds. When the breakables are safe she tosses the blanket to Laura before crossing the room and hauling more wood from a pile in the corner onto the fire. Laura studies the paintings on the wall, the trinkets on the fireplace mantel, the shelves lined with books that look older than herself.

"Aren't you worried about people breaking in and stealing stuff?"

Carmilla shakes her head as she pokes at the fire with her foot, "The important things are hidden."

She retrieves the champagne and holds the bottle up to Laura, wordlessly asking if she's ready to partake. Laura nods, but accompanied with her shivers it makes her look like a bobblehead. The cork pops out with a bang but Carmilla catches it with her other hand before it flies off and causes any damage.

"Hidden where?"

Laura takes the offered glass of fizzing liquid and watches as Carmilla sits next to her. She doesn't hesitate to stretch her legs over the girl's lap as she gestures to the large pile of firewood in the corner.

"There's a safe under the floorboards beneath the wood pile."

Laura perks up, "Really? What's in it?!"

Carmilla laughs, puts a hand on Laura's leg to keep her seated, "Later." Now that she has her here she doesn't want to get lost in the past, she'd rather get lost in Laura.

"Have you spent a lot of time here?"

"In spurts, yes."

Once again Carmilla has no intention of elaborating, but there's something about Laura's eyes that makes her want to talk forever. Unlike the girls she's forced to bait, Laura actually listens to her, she wants to know _her_ , not the exaggerated personality that Carmilla puts on. Laura takes Carmilla's hand that isn't supporting her glass, drawing the words from her.

"Usually Mother would keep an annoyingly close eye on me, making it impossible to escape for more than a few days. But every once in a while she'd be interested in other things and I could get away. In the mid-90's I spent over a year here."

Laura stares into the bouncing flames of the fire, thinks how strange it is that the moment she was born, Carmilla was probably here. Locked away in the middle of the woods, hating herself and what she was being forced to do. They talk about it all the time, but Laura still has a hard time grasping just how much life Carmilla has lived.

"She could have found me, but it was worth the risk. I needed to separate myself from people."

"I can't imagine ever wanting to be alone after spending all that time underground."

Carmilla intertwines their fingers, gripping tightly onto something in the present to keep herself anchored here, to keep the memories from becoming too vivid.

"Neither did I, at least not at first. When you're immortal it's easy to realize that life is all about people...finding them, losing them, and the effect you have on each other. But when I was sucked back into my mother's game I knew the only lasting effect I would ever have on anyone...was death. So I would hide out here and try to hash out a plan to take her down. But when I went back into the world, back to her...I knew it was pointless to try anything more than my petty little revenges." Carmilla looks at Laura and sees so much care and sadness in her eyes, but Laura can't see past the hunger in Carmilla's to see the love settled there, "But then someone showed me it was worth fighting for."

Laura blushes, looks away with a shy smile, "No, I just...I was just trying to save Betty."

Carmilla watches as she avoids her gaze, wishing she'd understand how much she means to her, wishing she'd listen instead of deflecting, wishing she knew how amazing she is. When Laura finally looks back to Carmilla, she puts confessions of love to the back of her mind and knows what she needs to do.

The warmth from the fire has finally infiltrated her many layers, so she kicks the blanket off herself and abandons her champagne on a side table. She stands, removes her coat and tosses it aside. Carmilla watches, puzzled but interested, as Laura steps closer and sits on her legs, straddling her lap. Carmilla downs the rest of her champagne before letting the glass fall onto the couch cushions.

Laura pulls at her right sleeve to expose her forearm, "Fangs out." Carmilla simply raises an eyebrow, a small smile playing at her lips, "Do it, please. I want you to. And I know you want to." Carmilla shakes her head, so Laura squeezes her thighs tighter around Carmilla's, "You're trapped. It's time."

Carmilla only silently shakes her head again and tries to move Laura's arm away, but Laura squirms out of her grip, starting a battle of swatting hands. The moment Carmilla finally gets a hold of Laura's flailing wrists, her fangs slip out, causing an abrupt end to the movements and laughter. Carmilla knew it was coming, she's not sure if it was the friction of Laura's hips against her own or the smell of Laura's sweet blood, probably a deadly combination of the two.

The reflection of the fire dances in Carmilla's eyes as she keeps her mouth shut tight and stares at the wood floor. Laura has seen her fangs before, and every time they're out she wants to grab her face to examine them, but she's resisted because it's obvious Carmilla doesn't want any attention focused on them.

"See? Told you you want to."

"I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't." Laura shrugs, "Well...you will. But hardly."

The points of Carmilla's fangs poke the inside of her lip as she smiles, making Laura want to bite it. Carmilla can't find a hint of fear in her face, not even an elevated heart rate to indicate a lie.

"You're sure?"

Laura nods excitedly and puts her arm back up, a confused pout popping onto her face when it's pushed away once again. Instead Carmilla's hands roam Laura's legs, wrap around to grab her ass and pull her closer. Carmilla sits up straight so they're chest to chest, and whispers against Laura's lips.

"Kiss me first..."

For once, Laura doesn't ask questions, at least not right away. It's not until Carmilla's hands grace the skin of her lower back a few minutes later, sending shivers up her spine, that Laura stops kissing her, breathless.

"Is this part of it?"

Carmilla's hands slide around to Laura's front, one of them snakes up to her throat to graze over her pulse point.

"Increases your heart rate, blood pressure..." She kisses Laura's neck where her fingers just were, "It won't take as long."

Carmilla scrapes her teeth along Laura's skin making her breath hitch and her hips grind down, "I like this part..."

Carmilla smiles against Laura's skin until small hands grip the sides of her face and needily pull her lips back to Laura's. As always when the fangs are out Laura is careful with her wandering tongue to prevent it from becoming a victim.

When the blood is hammering through Laura's vessels and the smell is all Carmilla can focus on, her lips are forced to leave Laura's. Like a magnet her mouth finds a wrist to the left of her face, but she stops herself before entering. Her eyes find Laura's, who gives her a small nod. Laura braces herself, Carmilla plants a small kiss before cradling the wrist with her hand and piercing the skin with her fangs.

When the blood starts to pour out, a wave of dizziness instantly takes over Laura. But she takes a deep breath, convincing herself it doesn't happen that fast and it's only her nerves acting up. It stings at first, but not enough to make Laura yank her arm away. Even if she's drinking her blood, Carmilla's lips around the wound do wonders to mask the pain. Laura can't stop herself from smiling when she realizes that in some strange way, the feeling of the blood rushing past her skin kind of tickles. Carmilla's other hand is repeatedly bunching into her shirt at Laura's hip, like she wants to grab her but is resisting, Laura wishes she wouldn’t. A small part of her was scared this would suck and turn into a painful chore she felt obligated to do. Maybe it's just the champagne and the fire crackling happily behind her to set the scene, but she definitely wasn't expecting this to be so beautifully intimate.

Carmilla watches Laura the whole time, looking for signs of panic, listening to her heartbeat to make sure it doesn't dip too low. The blood doesn't only instantly revitalize her physically, but her mind falls more at ease with each passing drop that doesn't cause Laura to panic. There's no sign of fear or anger, only wonder in Laura's eyes, and Carmilla has a fleeting thought that Laura might be in love with her.

Then Carmilla sees it, a rush that courses through Laura, subtly evident in her expression and body language, telling her it's time to stop. If she continues Laura would be okay, but she might lose consciousness, and she didn't come all the way here to watch her sleep. Carmilla releases her wrist and licks away the droplets of blood that bubble up. Without the warmth of Carmilla's mouth on the wound, the sting of pain returns. With a hand on Laura's lower back and the other below her thigh, Carmilla holds her steady to switch their positions. She quickly stands and spins them, gently placing Laura down on the cushions and kneeling on the floor between her knees.

Using her fangs Carmilla tears her sleeve and then rips a strip of fabric off completely. She wraps it around the puncture holes and ties it tightly before reaching up to cup Laura's face and examine her color.

"How do you feel?"

"I'm good." Laura nods, wants to tell the beautiful, hopeful face in front of her that she loves it, but she still can't bring herself to say it, "That was...kind of awesome."

Carmilla smiles, more relieved than she could ever put into words. She wants to pick Laura up and hug her tiny frame, but knows she has to make sure she's okay first.

"You might feel faint, that's normal. You should consider eating better if you want this to be a regular thing."

Laura frowns, "But...cookies..."

Carmilla snickers and licks the last of the blood from her teeth before standing and looking around the room.

"You left that juice in the car, didn't you?"

Laura takes a shaky breath, suddenly feeling weak, but she manages a nod, "You mean you don't have anything in your super-secret vampire safe for me?"

Carmilla picks up the discarded car keys, "I don't exactly keep it stocked for humans."

"Don't try to pretend I'm the only girl you've ever brought here, I'm not falling for that."

Carmilla's body freezes, the keys jingling cheerily from her limp hand despite her stony expression. Laura doesn't see the change at first, but looks up after adjusting the makeshift bandage on her wrist and immediately takes in Carmilla's disappointment.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, it's just..." Carmilla runs her empty hand through her hair, lets out an incredulous, humorless chuckle, "It's nothing."

Laura starts to respond but Carmilla sprinted from the room after her words, leaving Laura to guard herself from a burst of cold air. She returns in only a few seconds and drops the bottle of juice into Laura's lap.

"Drink up."

Her voice is as lifeless as her heart, and it makes Laura feel empty. She cracks the seal and does as suggested, watching Carmilla over the top of the bottle, who's taken to sulking on the opposite side of the couch. Then Laura's shoulders slump when she realizes what she's done.

"Shit..." Carmilla throws a sideways glance at her girlfriend, she rarely swears, especially with no provocation, "I am the only girl that's been here, aren't I?" Carmilla nods almost imperceptibly, "And you're trying to be sweet and romantic but I'm a total idiot and just completely belittled how grand of a gesture even being here is."

Laura is expecting silence, for her broody vampire to remain broody, but instead she explodes.

"Yes!" Carmilla stands unexpectedly, "Of course no one else has been here. This is one of the few things in the world that's mine. I've never told anyone all the shit I've told you. You're different, Laura. Because you make me want to be different. I thought if I brought you here you'd understand...that I'm...that-"

Carmilla abruptly stops talking, choosing instead to take a large swig of champagne from the bottle before sitting back down. She puts her head in her hand, her elbow balancing on her knee.

It's rare that Laura sees such an emotional outburst from her that isn't laced with sarcasm. Carmilla misses the smile grow on Laura's face despite the fact that she was practically just being yelled at. Laura knows exactly what Carmilla almost said, the earthquake in her mind finally settles and the fault lines lock into place. She was so focused on feeding Carmilla that she missed what she was trying to do. Now the disappointment and hurt etched in Carmilla's face makes Laura feel so stupid for ever being scared to tell her anything.

Laura tugs at Carmilla's arm, but it remains in place as if she was a feather tickling a marble statue. She knows she can't make her move, so she puts herself in right next to her. With a hand on her leg, she says her girlfriend's name in a tone she didn’t know she possessed.

"Carmilla..."

The girl turns, surprised at the smile in her voice rather than the sadness she was expecting. Laura kisses her perplexed face, no longer hoping for love or nervous about the lack of it, but with the passion that only comes with the knowledge of it. The kind of kiss that inspires melodies and masterpieces. Carmilla turns her body completely, not to let her hands roam lustfully,  just to wrap Laura in her arms as the same is done to her. It doesn't take long for Laura to feel the stiffness leave Carmilla's bones and she melts, so she stops kissing her.

"Carm..." She lets out a small hum in response, but Laura waits to continue until her eyes are fully open. Her arms unwind themselves from Carmilla's neck until her hands are flat on the girl's chest and shoulder, "I love you, too. All of you.” Laura brushes her thumb over Carmilla’s upper lip where a fang is hiding just behind.

Carmilla’s eyes close, she’s waited so long to hear those words the reality of it is almost painful. It makes her want to cry. It makes her wish it was 1698 and she had the chance to grow old with someone.

“I’m sorry I’m an idiot sometimes. Thank you for bringing me here.”

Carmilla ignores her apology, “I’m so in love with you...”

Laura can’t help but giggle at hearing the words. It makes her whole body feel weaker, but in the best way. If Carmilla’s arms weren’t still around her waist she may have fallen right off the couch.

“Are you sure we can’t just stay here forever?”

“Positive. But we can always come back.”

Laura isn’t disappointed, she knew that would be the answer, “Can we watch the stars tonight?”

Carmilla nods, “I think I’d like that very much…”

Laura beams, she can’t think of a better way to start a new year than with her new love. She hopes they’ll come back at the turn of every year and spend it laying outside, watching the sky, staring into infinity.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading :)


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